Job Discussion Forums

[captain kirk]

yeah, where does this 'living like a king' thing come from. i've never been to china but i heard a teacher working in korea say this; 'my co-worker recently went back to china where he says he can 'live like a king'. he has a beautiful korean girlfriend here, but he left anyway'. this woman is pretty dry, so maybe she was being facetious. i think i've heard that before re; china; 'you can live like a king'. apparently that's only if you don't go to Mcdonald's, kfc, etc. i guess a king in china is an everyman after the revolution, living simply, like confucious, practicing characters with a brush. needs own you, like. could it be a way of attracting english teachers, like the recruiters/agencies who talk about the low cost of living so come on over.
re; the story from the old lonely planet re; the tourist who let the police set his broken leg, then got a 20,000 rmb bill. when the hospital would have charged 100. and he had to send home for the money. dunno. it was in the lonely planet. don't believe it. are you 'living like a king', too? i crack me up, not as much as mr pink, though. that chinese gf story sounds like the guy on this board awhile ago debating over dumping his chinese gf. even though she worked, he paid for everything. she figured he was supposed to. wonder if it has to do with extended family and coaching from the relatives. and the accepted 'over-charging foreigners' policy, like it's a 'patriotic duty'. lonely planet said that too.
do you get 'overcharged' when you buy simple staples wherever you get them? doesn't sound like it. lonely planet, old edition; for sale.

[gerard]

"Living like a yuppie" is maybe more like it. In Shanghai you could spend 500 a day---easy.

Don't worry much about overcharging...If you want a stereo or camera or something bring a local with you for sure---they will save you a lot. But for day to day stuff it is OK. If you pay 15 Y for an umbrella that should have cost 10---big deal...And if you dont mind bargaining you can do OK...If they say 50 you say 10 and meet somewhere in the middle. Pay no more than 10 for a movie...

[Roger]

If you remain more or less stationary your salary goes a long way. 1000 RMB is quite a lot of money to spend on daily necessities, although I easily spend somewhat more because I buy Aussie and Portuguese and Spanish wines and eat imprted beef and cheese.
But most of us make a lot more than 4000 RMB a month, so there is a huge savings potential.
However, come the holidays you should spend some of your funds on recreational activities such as...travelling.
And, while China still is a relatively low-cost destination it is fast becoming onerous. Hotels seldom charge less than 100 a night per person; some cities now have youth hostels, but if there is none, you can easily be made to pay 200 to 400 per night.
Trains are good value for your money, and sleeper accom saves on hotels. On the other hand, you spend a bit more than 10 kuai on food while travelling; below 50 you are starving.
COmpare tourist expenses in China to those in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam - and you can easily see that China is rapidly pricing itself out of the market.
I am not even talking about "foreigners' prices" - they were a lot more formidable back beforwe 1996 when the central government required foreign nationals to pay double for train or plane tickets. But while China has finally learnt to treat us the same as its own people, we are more likely to be subject to taxes. SOme of us, me included, have had to pay up to 20% tax on income derived in China.
I am not complaining, far from it. But the longer you have been here, the more you realise that China is catching up on all fronts, including on the front of priciness.
And, since quality is a prime consideration for any Westerner, we end up paying more as we have very little choice in selecting services that we can trust. Just try to get good medical services - and you see they come at a price rather much in line with costs elsewhere!

[Jess_Laoshi]

It really depends where you are too ... I lived in Kunming, where even the Western stuff tended to be a little less pricey than other places. You don't have to live in po-dunk China to avoid paying Beijing or Shanghai prices on stuff.

Living in Kunming, I could get by on 10 RMB a day for food, especially if I went to the market and cooked my own stuff. I lived with my Chinese boyfriend at the time, and he was extremely frugal, having been brought up in the countryside with very little extra to spend. His entire semester's budget wasn't over 3000 RMB, which included his tuition. If you want to live like a local, you can live extremely cheaply. We gradually started spending more as he got more comfortable with living with a foreigner and with the idea that I had a lot more money to throw around. Still, I was living comfortably supporting the two of us (which meant a couple of trips to a cafe a week for coffee or western food, a couple of nights out drinking with friends, and some extra goodies for the house) off of about 1500 RMB a month.

Then again, my boyfriend and I were college students in our mid-20s and we weren't particularly accustomed to any higher standard of living. In China I lived more comfortably than I did in the US for less money. However, I can definitly see spending more if you're coming to China having already established yourself firmly back home. My parents would probably spend a lot more than myself in China if they moved there.

[wOZfromOZ]

Living like a King on 500 RMB/ month.

What's living like a king? very subjective indeed but I'll have a go at answering your question.

I've been, at urging of my dear mother in law, requested to entertain the prospect of living off a budget of 1000Y/ month. I dont smoke but I sure do drink! I like Beer - local and imported,Scotch,Tequila,Gin, etc.

That'll usually cost about 500-700Y/month without going to bars etc so the question now needs to be asked - Do Kings like to drink?

Add to that my Taxi bill for the month - getting to and from our weekend place - 700 rmb / month. Will a King use a taxi?

Who likes to eat fillet steak, bacon, Cheese, Imported Foods,restaurant meals, quality breakfasts, etc etc etc...... 1500Y/month. Does a King like to eat well?

Who likes to go on the net at home .....me! - 500-600/ month realistically
for about 3 hours /day average. Most Kings I know of wouldn't have been able to go on the net!


What are we up to now? .... 3,500 RMB ..........500rmb/ month and live like a king!!
....................I DONT THINK SO!

wOZfromOZ

[Cobra]

wOz I must agree that you are certainly no King, more like a court jester or a Princely fool.

wOx wrote:

[Gray000]

[wOZfromOZ]

You'll never hear about this anywhere but the middle kingdom but a snake hallucinating or o.d.-ing on da ma and taking up the pen and then proceeding to try and play me the fool - a very very dangerous thing to do snake. ....not smart at all!

wOZfromOZ

...........play any harder and you going to lose ya skin quick smart!

[Shaolin Monk]

it's getting hot in here